Easy meals please

[Planesmistakenforstarss]

I normally do a lot of cooking but I've just had a baby and cannot be bothered to prepare anything. Hit me with your suggestions for easy vegetarian meals please - nothing is too simple!

Vegetarian sausages, tinned chick peas or butter beans or mixed beans, tomatoes, chopped onion, garlic. Tip into a casserole or the slow cooker and leave till cooked.

Anything with eggs, on toast.

Use things like frozen mashed potato, frozen onions, frozen grilled mediterranean vegetables, frozen Yorkshire puddings, to help make life easier for yourself.

This is great, thank you. Frozen veg is a good idea.

Stirfry. Co op does an easy package with noodles, veggies and a sauce.

Got a packet of couscous from Aldi today (garlic and sundried tomato). Literally add boiled water and cous cous is ready in minutes. I chopped up some olives and sundried tomatoes and cheese to mix in.

Omelettes. Lots of variations and easy to make.

Omelettes
Spinach and ricotta tortellini with pasta sauce
A slow cooker curry

Tin of black eyed beans, tomatoes, cucumber, parsley, shallot, dressing of lemon and olive oil. Eat with nice bread to mop up juices.

Packet tortellini jazzed up with sage leaves flash fried in olive oil until crispy, heaps of grated parmesan.

Grilled Quorn southern fried burgers in buns with sliced tomato, pack of ready shredded iceberg, ketchup and American mustard. Potato wedges on the side.

Soup.
Easy anyway but if you use frozen veg, even easier.
Buy a nice loaf of bread to go with it.

My latest winning recipe (even with my veg refusing 11yr old dd).

Green Soup

2 leeks chopped and softened for a few minutes in a little oil or butter.
A couple of courgettes chopped and added for 5-7 mins.
1-1.5 ltr of stock (I use chicken but veg is ok)
wilt a whole bag of spinach for a couple of minutes.
Blitz.
Add half a block of crumbled/diced feta and a handful of basil leaves and blitz again.

A bag of stir fry veg, quick soak rice noodles or pack of microwave rice, tofu and a splash of soy sauce , chilli flakes and garlic.

Oh yes, those fresh filled pastas are super quick to cook. Serve with grated cheese and a dash of oil, or if you want more of a sauce, drain the pasta, then into the hot pan put some crumbled cheese such as Boursin with herbs, tip the pasta back into the pan and stir well so the Boursin melts, then serve.

Tins or pouches of cooked puy lentils are a huge time saver as well, use them cold as a salad with a dressing and things like avocado, cucumber, olives etc stirred in, or warm them through to accompany vegetarian sausages, quiche etc.

So many good ideas here, thank you! Currently planning an online shop for the ingredients 😁

Boursin as sauce sounds amazing, I will try that!

falafel in wraps with salad, beetroot and tzaziki

Salad of green leaves, avocado and sunflower seeds topped with pan fried halloumi
Red lentil spag Bol - yes it takes a while bout you can make a double batch so it does 2 nights. Same with bbcgood food Dahl with spinach and sweet potato.

Asian broth.

1 cube frozen garlic, 1 cube of frozen ginger, one stock cube and a pan of boiling water.

This is the basic broth, add what ever you want to it, I usually add pork but no good for a vegi, a packet of pre prepped stir fry veg would work but you can literally add anything.

In a slow cooker add

1 chopped onion or frozen chopped onions, 1 tin chickpeas, 1 packet of passata, seasonings of choice again you can add anything, as it is in the SC it can hang around all day.

Do you eat eggs? You can break eggs into it.

My tip is to make double portions so you can start building your frozen stocks. Then you'll be able to have home cooked meals without having to cook every time.
This is definitely soup weather; easy to make and easy to eat.
Also baked potatoes, toasties,

Big mushrooms filled with feta, spinach and pine nuts with garlic bread or potato wedges.
Fried eggs and potato waffles.
Roasted tomatoes and feta mixed with pasta.
Jacket potatoes, beans and cheese.
Lentil soup and bake at home rolls (I love the Tideford one).
Quick curry: fry onions, add curry paste and tinned tomatoes. Cook for ten minutes then add tinned chickpeas, mushrooms, frozen peas, whatever other veg and cook for another 5 minutes. This will cook in the same time as a pan of rice.
Noodles, bag of stir fry veg, satay sauce made from peanut butter, sweet chilli sauce and soy sauce. Add some peanuts on top.

These Halloumi Burgers take 10 minutes.

Congratulations on your new LO

You can also use cream cheese to do this.

Or fry some mushrooms then melt the cream cheese / Boursin into the pan, it can be put on toast or in a baked potato.

Yes I do eat eggs, I'll give a try ☺️

Thank you ☺️

Soak some fine egg or rice noodles in boiling water until soft. Stir fry any veg you have, spring onions, peppers, broccoli, carrots, mushrooms etc or use a bag of stir fry veg. Add chilli, garlic, ginger if you have and can be bothered. Add the softened noodles and add some soy sauce. I top this with a fried egg and chili sauce.

This thread made it into classics a few years ago

www.mumsnet.com/talk/food_and_recipes/2514575-Very-low-effort-meals-needed

Eggs are great for quick meals.

Butter a ramakin, season and drop an egg in, pierce the yolk and microwave on half power for 2-3 mins depending on the power of your microwave and the size of the egg - it comes out similar to a McDonalds eggs.

Scrambled with grated cheese whisked in before cooking will give you a protein rich breakfast.

I make soups in the slow cooker, just throw in any veg and seasonings add boiling water and leave for a couple of hours, then use a stick blender.

The soup can sit there all day so you can grab a bowl between looking after your LO. Congratulations by the way.

I saw a great trick on YouTube for a baba ghanoush, it was basically an aubergine baked in the oven until soft, left to cool in a colander so the water drains out and then the cooked 'flesh' was mixed with mayonnaise.

I keep pita bread in the freezer and then stick it into the toaster to defrost and heat through.

Thank you all, more great ideas, these should keep me going for a while!